Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 7 The Light in the Piazza

Lyric Opera House | 19 RENÉE FLEMING MARGARET JOHNSON Renée Fleming performs to acclaim in concert halls, theaters and opera houses around the world. A four-time Grammy winner, she has sung for such momentous occasions as the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2013, President Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts. In June, Renée starred as Margaret Johnson in the London premiere of The Light in the Piazza. Renée’s schedule this season includes concerts in New York, Boston, Vienna, Paris, Hong Kong, and Beijing. Last summer, she performed the world premieres of André Previn’s Penelope and Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light at the Tanglewood Music Festival, going on to reprise Penelope at Ravinia. Last spring, she appeared opposite Ben Whishaw in Norma Jeane Baker of Troy to open The Shed at New York’s Hudson Yards. She earned a 2018 Tony nomination for her performance on Broadway in Carousel. Her new album Lieder: Brahms, Schumann, & Mahler, was released by Decca in June. With 16 Grammy nominations, she has recorded everything from complete operas and song recitals to indie rock and jazz. She is featured on the soundtrack of the 2018 Best Picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water, as well as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and as the singing voice of Julianne Moore in the film of Bel Canto. Renée is Creative Consultant to Lyric Opera of Chicago, co-artistic director of the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS, and artistic director of SongStudio at Carnegie Hall. As artistic advisor to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, she spearheads a collaboration with the U.S. National Institutes of Health focused on music, health and neuroscience. Her numerous awards include the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Award, France’s Légion d’Honneur, and an honorary doctorate from Northwestern University, where she was also the commencement speaker. ReneeFleming.com SOLEA PFEIFFER CLARA JOHNSON Solea Pfeiffer has recently starred as Penny Lane in the musical adaptation of the hit film Almost Famous at The Old Globe and as Eva Peron in New York City Center’s revival of Evita. Previously to this she starred in the critically acclaimed run of Encores! Off-Center’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World, and prior to that, as Eliza in the West Coast premiere of Hamilton. Solea’s first job out of college was Maria in the LA Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel Hollywood Bowl production of West Side Story. She later reprised the role in Steven Reineke’s National Symphony Orchestra production at the Kennedy Center. On television, Solea recurs on The Good Fight and appeared in one of the final episodes of Scandal.